Opencast mine protest at assembly

The "bride and groom" in the protest play at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay

Opponents of an opencast coal mine near Merthyr Tydfil have taken their protest to the Welsh assembly in Cardiff Bay.

Campaigners performed a tongue-in-cheek play about the dispute at the Ffos-y-Fran development.

Residents Against Ffos-y-Fran members said they wanted to go to the European Court of Justice after reaching "the end of the road" with domestic law.

There were arrests at the opencast site last month after demonstrators chained themselves to excavation machinery.

Residents have claimed there will not be enough protection from noise, dust and pollution from the site and AMs debated plans for a 500m (1,640ft) buffer zone between houses and new opencast mining developments in March.

There has been anger that the opencast site was allowed to go ahead with a buffer of 40m (130ft) to the nearest homes.

The play, watched by a small number of AMs on the steps of the Senedd, portrayed the relationship between Merthyr Council and Miller Argent.

It is a blight on the Welsh Assembly Government for allowing this monster of a scheme to go ahead Protester Terry Evans with Plaid AM Leanne Wood

Residents Against Ffos-y-Fran chair Terry Evans played First Minister Rhodri Morgan in the demonstration.

Mr Evans, 61, who lives about 37m (121ft) from the boundary of the site, closest to the development, said his paraplegic wife, Pamela, 59, rarely left the bungalow adapted for her needs.

"She's there, 24 hours a day, seven days a week - afraid to open the windows in dry weather, afraid to go outside to have a cup of tea, afraid to do anything".

"We have numerous episodes of dust, as we said we would," he said.

"The last couple of weeks, in the fine weather and the wind blowing from the east towards our estate, has been horrific.

'Nightmare scenario'

"It is a blight on the Welsh Assembly Government for allowing this monster of a scheme to go ahead," Mr Evans added.

Roy Jones of Friends of the Earth said it was excellent to see the production on the steps of the assembly, although he was disappointed so few AMs turned up to see it.

The Ffos-y-Fran site is near homes in Merthyr Tydfil

"We're campaigning across south Wales against opencast mining, so any campaign in one area will help prevent it in another area," he said.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mike German said the play successfully showed the "anguish" in the local community over the scheme, which he claimed was also underlined by recent Labour losses in Merthyr at the local elections.

"I wish we'd been able to safeguard the people's lives by ensuring we'd had a 500m buffer zone in Ffos-y-Fran, that would have made such a great difference. I've opposed this development right from the very beginning and I continue to oppose it," he said.

Plaid Cymru South Wales Central AM Leanne Wood said residents had been living with a "nightmare scenario".

"They've got a lot of support in the community, they've got a lot of political support... they've certainly caught the imagination of people but I'm afraid they have a very difficult battle".

'Well-run site'

Ffos-y-Fran will mine 10m tonnes of coal over 17 years.

Miller Argent has defended the scheme, and said the land nearest homes will emerge from the reclamation process within six years.

The company has also said the landscape will return to its natural state, while restoration will "include care for some important industrial heritage landmarks, the preservation of an Iron Age Settlement and other archaeological finds and the preservation and care for Cwm Golau wooded valley".

The developer also said all regulations were being "rigorously enforced" at a "safe and well-run site".

It said while there were "long-held objections" by some residents, the plans also had "strong expressions of local support."

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